The Visitors
by thestrange-ladymalz
Summary: Aang feels alone, being the last air bender. When two unexpected visitors come crashing in, things get worse. Katara and Toph feel jealous, Aang feels like he finally has someone, and Zuko gets mixed feelings. Please RxR!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_This new era of peace if refreshing. I am able to relax, and my days are without worry. Without worry of learning new bending, or fighting some enemy. All I can do now is relax. Time has passed, over two years, and my fifteenth birthday had just passed. But I still feel like I am needed. I know of some places where the monks would want us to hide if something happened. I am not sure why I hadn't thought of that sooner. I am happy now, with friends and with Katara, who I love dearly. But I feel an emptiness inside. I am the last air bender, but I am not sure if I can handle that, not anymore. _

Aang waved his hand, letting a small gust of air dry the ink, then rolled the scrolls. He shifted his robe, then put the scrolls in his pocket. Truthfully, he didn't want anyone to see that, not now. Not when everything has been going so well. The sections of the earth kingdom have been rebuild and restored. Everyone is happy at the moment, he didn't want to disturb that with this trivial feeling.

Aang was sitting crossed legged in front of his desk and jumped up sharply when he heard a knocking on the door

_Knockknockknock_, Aang heard. The door swung open to reveal Toph, who had dirt covering parts of her face and her arms, her clothes were filthy.

"Hey twinkle toes, dinner is ready." She told him. She turned and was about to walk away when she turned around, facing Aang. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Toph. Let's go eat," He said, maybe a bit harsher than he meant to, walking and brushing past her and walking down the hallway. Toph scrunched her face, than ran up to join him. In the past two years, he grew a lot, spiking up in height, and had grown more muscular, it was getting hard to catch up to him.

"Aang, don't lie to me, something is wrong. Why wont you tell me?" She asked him, walking quick to catch up to his long strides.

"Because I don't want to talk about it," he responded sharply, and turned the corner, opening up the large door with both of his hands. From the darker scene of the hallways, the dining hall glowed. The room was open, there was no ceiling, only wooden planks that ran across from one wall to another, holding up vines and flowers. The table was thick wood, as were the seats. This was one of two dining rooms, this one was used when the weather was real nice.

He immediately saw Katara, who was laughing with Sokka. The table was full of food, some Aang recognized, some he didn't. When Katara noticed that he came in, she lit up, smiled and waved, motioning for Aang to come. He went and sat down next to her. A few servants came in and brought drinks to them. Toph sat down next to Suki, who was next to Sokka.

"So I got a letter from Mai, she said that as soon as all of Zuko's meetings are done, they are both going to come back here to get away for a while," Katara continue in her and the others conversation.

Aang took a bit of something, swallowing it quickly, not even tasting it. It left a bit of sour taste. He was pretty sure that it was something with sea prunes in it.

Suki nodded, eating a bit. "I just got a letter too, from Ty Lee and the other Kyoshi Warriors. They just finished with a training session with the Fire Nation soldiers. I have an elite team learning different fighting styles from the around the world. They were coming here next to learn from the Dai Li."

Katara smiled. "Are they staying here?"

"No," Suki shook her head. "They are staying in Dai Li quarters, but they did say that they would stop by as soon as they get to the Earth Kingdom."

"So, I was thinking," Sokka started. "Dad is in the South Pole, building with some of the water benders. He said that the tribe has grown exponentially. Maybe it is time to go back, or at least start thinking about going back home. What else is there to do here?"

Katara thought about what Sokka just said. Since Sokka, Toph and her had traveled with Aang, they were part of the new council, called the White Locus Council. It was stationed on an island off of the Earth Kingdom shores, not far away from where they lived now. The point of the White Locus Council was to deal with international affairs involving all of the Nations. It consisted of the Avatar, and several others picked by the Avatar. As of now, Katara, Sokka, and Hakota represent the Water Tribes, Toph, King Bumi, and Haru, represent the Earth Kingdom. Iroh, Mai, sometimes Zuko, when he wasn't dealing with Fire Nation issues, and Ursa, who had rejoined her son just a few months ago, represented the Fire Nation.

"Well, Sokka, we do have a White Locus meeting soon," Katara brought up.

"I know Katara, but We have those only once in a while. What is the harm in going home for a bit. Don't you miss Gram Gram and all the other Southern Tribe members."

Aang kept eating, quickly, not listening. Katara said something about other duties here in the earth kingdom, about how the damage caused by the former Fire Lord Ozai was more extensive than they thought.

Aang was thinking of the mountains near the Air Temples, and the several caverns hidden inside them, and wondered. Are the grandchildren of some Air Benders still in hiding? Appa was itching for some exercise, maybe a trip, even if they can't find anything, was good for them.

Aang stood up, knocking his chair over. Katara looked at him. "I am going on a trip and leaving tonight."

Then he left, without saying another word.

Katara looked at Toph, with almost a hurt look on her face. "Aang has been acting so weird lately. He has been moody and distant, and almost angry."

"I have noticed that too. If he isn't in his room, he is out practicing air bending, more than any other bending. Toph, you were practicing with him, has he told you anything?" Sokka looked at Toph, who sipped at her soup.

"Nope, I am as clueless as you are," She responded. Katara finished the last few bits on her plate, then stood up, smoothing out her green robes.

"I think I'll go talk to him," She told the others. Sokka snorted.

"Good luck with that. Right now, getting him to talk is about as impossible as getting Momo to talk," Sokka said, pointing at Momo, who sat on a chair, eating some melons. Katara just glared at Sokka, who had returned to talking with Suki. Then Katara exited the dining hall and began to walk down the halls.

She reached Aang's room and knocked, then walked in. She looked at Aang, who wad on his yellow robes, packing some things in a small sack. Then he grabbed his staff and turned around. He stopped when he saw Katara. His eyes, which were hard and narrow, softened when he saw Katara.

"Tell me," She said quietly, walking up to him and hugging him. "Please Aang, tell me what is wrong." Over the past year, Aang had grown taller than her, her head met his shoulders, and rested on his chest. She could hear his heart beat.

"I…" he started.

"Listen, I can understand if you don't want to talk, but there is no way that we are going to let you go alone, to where ever you are going. Where are you going?" Katara asked him.

"To the mountains near the Air Temples," Aang answered. "I want to see if there is anything that can tell me if there is any chance that there are any air benders, or descendents of ones, that are alive."

"Okay. We will go with you." She nodded.

"But," Aang started, but Katara cut him off with a kiss.

"Give us five minutes, we will meet you by Appa," Katara gave him another kiss, then walked out of the room.

…

Katara ran to the Dining hall, interrupting the conversation. Suki looked up at her, as well as Sokka. Toph still slurped at her soup.

"Come on guys, we are going to the Air Temples, suit up," She said quickly, then disappeared around the corner. Sokka and Suki got up and ran out the door. Toph sighed and got up.

"Great! Another ride on the flying carpet," she complained, walking to the door.

…

They all walked out into the open pen, where Aang was sitting next to Appa. Katara fixed her black fingerless gloves and her blue fighting robe. Sokka had his blue robes, similar to Katara's, with his boomerang, and his newly crafted space sword.

Toph came out too, with her yellow and green clothes and bottomless shoes. Her shoulders were slouched and her face was frowning. She really didn't want to ride on Appa.

"Ready to go," Suki said. She had on her traditional Kyoshi Warrior uniform, minus the make up. Aang launched himself up on Appa while the others got on the harness.

"Yip, yip," Aang told Appa. With that, they were launched into the air, and set off to the nearest temple, the southern Air Temple.


	2. Chapter 2

"Happy Birthday Hay Lin!" Everyone screamed in unison. Hay Lin, who had just opened up the front door of the Silver Dragon to face her friends and family. Cornelia was behind her, leading her into the restaurant. No wonder why Cornelia had brought Hay Lin over to her house and had nice clothes laid out for her. She walked in, her yellow and red dress flowed against her knees. She adjusted the halter strap and clicked her brown ankle boots. They were all there, Will, in a purple vest and a black skirt, Irma, wearing a dark blue strapless sparkly dress, and Taranee, in a red and orange floor length dress, also Eric, Elyon, and Caleb. Her family and some of the former guardians were there, Cassidy, Halinor and Kadma too.

Hay Lin smiled, flashing her braces. Her closest friends and her boyfriend stood behind a large white cake with fifteen candles brightly lit. "Oh guys," She squealed. "You shouldn't have."

"Yeah well, we did!" Cornelia smiled too. She went up and hugged Hay Lin, her blonde hair in a high pony tail. Will and Taranee hugged her together, the Irma hugged her last. Eric stood next to the cake, smiling at Hay Lin.

"Hey you!" He said when she ran up to him and hugged him. Eric kissed her once, then twice. "Two down, thirteen more to go." Hay Lin laughed as he said that. She snuggled into his chest, happy. She looked around, eyeing the streamers and balloons and banners.

"Okay," Irma said. She was behind the DJ booth, with the headset on her head. She looked at the mass of about fifty different people from the different dimensions, all here to congratulate Hay Lin. "Time to start shaking it on the dance floor. First, as a special gift to the Birthday girl, my best friend Hay Hay, we will start off with a special couples dance." Irma winked as she saw Eric lead Hay Lin to the dance floor.

Cornelia and Caleb danced next to them, as well as Will and Matt, Taranee and Nigel, and Maya and Zechariah. Hay Lin's parents danced too and soon, the dance floor was packed with couples.

"Hello, my little Buttercup," Martin walked up to Irma. "Will you join me in a dance."

"No Martin," She said in a monotone. "I am working the booth."

"Can I help?" Martin asked.

"Of course," Irma smiled at him, handing him another headset. He smiled back and took it.

…

Everyone gathered around the cake, Hay Lin in the front, wearing a party hat that said _Birthday Girl_ in pink spindly letters. She looked at the cake, with the white frosting and the blue, green and purple frosted decorations, and the air symbol, the silvery blue swirl as the dot above the i's in _Happy Birthday Hay Lin. _The candles burned around it.

"Make a wish my angel," Her father, Chen Lin, said, kissing Hay Lin's forehead. Hay Lin looked at all of the people surrounding her, her friends, her family. What more could she want? There had been peace for the last two years. They didn't do anything that required actual guardian duty, expect for a few missions here and there, patrolling. She thought for a moment.

_I wish…_

Hay Lin blew out the candles, with a little Air Guardian force, making her hair flow back. Everyone clapped.

Cornelia jumped up and clapped too, making the ruffles on her dress bounce. "Okay time for cake and presents."

…

The five girls sat in Hay Lin's room, their sleeping bags in a circle on her floor. The last bits of cake and ice cream were on the table. The girls, with their hands on their chins, laughed as they told stories.

"So how does it feel to be fifteen?" Will asked Hay Lin. She just smiled as she looked at all of her friends. They hadn't really changed, they all looked the same as they did two years ago.

"Not that different, but I am glad nothing has really changed," Hay Lin admitted.

"Truthfully, I feel the same," Cornelia said too. "It would, like, really suck if this changed." All the other girls nodded.

Suddenly, a white light enveloped the room. The girls shielded their eyes, the bright light hurt. Then, Caleb burst through the fold, his sword in his hand.

"Girls, you need to cone quickly," He gasped, out of breath. Cornelia got up fast, running to Caleb.

"Why? What's happening?" Will asked. Caleb sat down as the fold closed.

"Aldarn and I were checking out a couple of spots where there was suspicious activity lately. Mostly in areas that are surrounded by dense plants or rock formations, but have a clearing, sometimes small, sometimes large. Anyway, we were just leaving when all of the sudden, we were ambushed, this large bear looking creature, I didn't know what it was, but then, there was this flash of light, and it was gone. This was happening a lot. People report this same story over and over again in the woods and other places. I just got away from another run in with the bear… thing," Caleb explained fast.

"Guys, I think that we should check it out. Remember when we were on the patrol, we kept seeing those bear things, but we just passed it off as wildlife, even though we hadn't really seen them, ever," Taranee reasoned.

"Elyon has powers over the native Meridian wildlife. She can't control the bears." Caleb continued.

"Girls, I think that we should check it out," Will looked at them all. Hay Lin looked worried.

"But what about my parents, they come in and check on us every half an hour." Hay Lin told them. Will smiled and dug in the pocket of her sweater.

"Spord Lartsa," Will said as the Heart lit up and glowed, enveloping the room. Then, duplitcates of the girls stood near them. The real girls walked and stood next to Caleb and looked at the astral drops.

"Okay, just lay down, and go to sleep, we will be back soon," Irma told them, pointing at the sleeping bags. The astral drops looked at each other confused, then laid down on sleeping bags.

"Okay, lets go," Will said, swiping the air with the Heart, making a fold. Then all of the girls, and Caleb, walked through it, all hoping that this wasn't serious.

…

They stepped out of the fold, right in the middle of the Meridian Castle Throne Room. Elyon sat on her throne, her eyes closed and her head down. She looked real tired.

"Elyon!" Cornelia yelled as she ran to her friend. Elyon's head went up. There were bags under her eyes.

"Cornelia, this has been exhausting! I have tried to put shields around the town, protecting the people who need to go into the forest for different stuff, but I have had to concentrate so hard. It's wearing me out," Elyon explained, hugging her friend.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Will smiled, bowing. "The Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions are here to save the day!" Elyon smiled a bit.

"Thank you, hopefully this will be resolved soon so I can get a good night's sleep," Elyon yawned.

Will looked at Cornelia and Taranee. Irma stood behind them, looking at her nails. Hay Lin looked around. "Guardians Unite!" Will said.

Lights circled the room, in the colors of pink, blue, yellow, red and silver. The girls said their element in succession, then all let down, in full gear in their guardian outfits.

"Okay, let's go kick some alien bear butt!" Irma punched her hand. All the girls waved goodbye to Elyon and flew out the door. Blunk, who had waited there for Caleb, ran with him and followed the girls. He ran up to the front and turned to them.

"The last sighting was over there, in between the base of the mountain and the edge of the forest," Caleb said, pointing to a nearby mountain. Caleb ran faster to try to catch up to the girls, who flew faster.

As soon as they reached the last sighted spot, they found nothing.

"Caleb, are you sure it was here?" Will asked.

"Yeah, this was where I escaped from before," Caleb answered. Will scrunched her brow. "Normally there is a trace of the animal or a bit of smoke or fog from where is disappeared too. There have been sometimes when they have been spotted in the same spot several times."

The girls let down in a clearing, looking around, there was a bit of fog that was low to the ground. It have off a yellowish tint.

"Weird," Taranee bent over, looking at the fog. "This isn't natural."

Cornelia bent to the ground too, on her knees. Her palms were flat on the ground, and she used Green Speaking, communicating with the plants. "Okay, thanks," She said, responding to whatever was said. She got back up and looked at her friends.

"This has been happening everywhere, some flashes, sometimes the creatures just come and go, sometimes they do bad damage," Cornelia told them. Will looked at Hay Lin, who looked guilty.

"Hay Lin, what's wrong?" Will asked her. Hay Lin looked up.

"I think that I did something wrong." Hay Lin said, her voice in a whisper.

"Why?" Taranee asked.

"When I blew out the candles on the cake, I wish something exciting would happen so we would go in Guardian form. I feel like this was all my fault," Hay Lin confessed.

"Hay Lin, this has been going on for days, it is not your fault." Caleb assured her.

"Do you think that Phobos could be up to this?" Irma asked. Caleb shook his head

"How could he do something like this when he is under constant surveillance?" Caleb asked. Will sighed. Suddenly, a bright flash knocked them all to the ground. They shielded their eyes. When they looked up, a large yellow portal shone a few feet in front of them.

"What the…" Irma started.

Taranee looked harder. "A yellow portal?"

"Wait. Portals don't exist anymore. Remember when the Veil went 'poof' all the portals went 'poof' too. This shouldn't be here," Cornelia reminded them.

"Guys!" Hay Lin yelled as she ran up to the portal. "Look!" She pointed to the portal, inside people were walking in there. They all looked at the picture. There was a two guys and three girls. One of the guys was bald, with an arrow tattoo on his head, another guy was in blue. One girl was in a matching blue outfit that one of the guys was in. Another girl was in green and the last girl was in some type of black and dark green armor, they were walking down some corridor.

"This actually goes somewhere?" Cornelia asked. She walked up to Hay Lin and looked deeper into the portal.

"Guys don't get to close…" Will started. Then there was a bright flash. Taranee got thrown back, Will and Irma fell. Two large yellow looking ribbons leaped out, wrapping around Hay Lin and Cornelia. They were jerked around a bit, then sucked into the portal.

"Hey!" Irma yelled, getting up as fast as she could, but the portal closed. "No!"

"Cornelia!" Caleb gasped as he ran up to where she was. "Where did they go?"

The Elyon appeared, along with Vathek by tele-transport. "Guys, all of the portals that I was monitoring are gone!"

"So are Hay Lin and Cornelia, they got sucked into the portal," Taranee whispered. They all looked at the spot where their two friends stood last.

'What are we going to do?" Elyon asked. Nobody said anything, because nobody knew.


	3. Chapter 3

Appa had let them down at the edge of the cliff. Toph was the first one to get down, and she was glad. She fell of the ground.

"Sweet, sweet earth, of how I have missed you," She smiled, making a ground angel.

Katara got off next and looked at Toph. "Toph, we only flew for three hours, it wasn't that bad."

"Maybe for you it wasn't," Toph started, getting up and dusting off her clothes. "But for me, it was bad." Sokka and Suki got off next, then Aang, who just looked around him.

"Okay, let's go. Aang do you know where an entrance to these 'secret tunnels' might be," Sokka asked, making the air quotes.

"No," Aang answered. Toph sniffed, and shifted her feet.

"Aang, I can feel some empty tunnels, but I am not sure that they are big enough to fit a person," Toph said.

"No, I know that there are tunnels here somewhere," Aang replied. He looked around and felt the rock wall in front of him.

Aang kept feeling the rocks, moving some rocks here and there, making a sound every one and a while. Toph picked at her toes, Sokka drew in the sand with his boomerang. Suki stretched and practice some fighting moves and Katara just stood looking at Aang. This went on for a hour.

After a bit, Katara spoke up. "Aang, I don't think that anything is here," She said quietly.

Aang looked over his shoulder with a sneer. "Listen! I didn't ask you to come, it is taking so long because no one is helping. If you are just going to sit here and nothing, you might as well just go!" He yelled at them.

Katara stepped back at Aang's outburst, but them stood her ground.

"Listen Aang, you have been hard to deal with enough with your moodiness and distance from the rest of us, but I am sick and tired of you exploding at us when we are just trying to help!" She yelled back at him. "You are not making this easy on any of us. So please tell us, what can we do to help?" Katara's voice went from loud to a soft, comforting voice. "What can we do?"

Aang's face changed just like Katara's voice did. His face went to a sad and sullen look. "Just find me an air bender."

Katara looked hurt, then went back to sitting down.

Just as another hour went by, the sun began to set on the horizon, Sokka got antsy. He leaned closer to Suki.

"Hey, I love Aang and everything, but this is boring, when are we going?" He asked her.

"Sokka!" She hissed. "We are helping Aang, we will stay here as long as we need to."

"But this is boring. Don't you wish this was back in the old times, you know. Back when Ozai was a crazy leader of the Fire Nation, not just crazy in prison, and we were getting chased by Fire Nation soldiers who wanted to kill us and capture Aang. Something exciting like that?" He elaborated.

"Sokka!" She gasped. "That is a horrible thing to say!" Suki hit him on the back of the head. "And besides, we are in a time of peace, nothing exciting happens during times of peace."

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed, making the entire gang shield their eyes, except for Toph, who didn't notice anything. When they could finally see, what they saw didn't make an sense.

A large glowing yellow circle in mid air.

"Nothing exciting huh, well this seems to be exciting," Sokka responded to Suki, who was not up and in a light fighting stance. Everyone was on edge.

'What in the world is that?" Katara asked.

"What is what?" Toph asked casually, picking her nose. "I cant see anything."

"There is a big yellow glowy thingy in the air," Sokka told her.

"Oh, what is it doing?" She asked again.

"Nothing, at least not yet?" Sokka replied. He pulled out his sword as Aang stood in a fighting stance next to Suki. Toph sat on the ground, not moving.

"Hey look!" Katara pointed at the circle. "There are people inside there." She said. She stepped closer and peered in, several girls, in odd clothing, with a boy and an little, weird looking creature. They all stepped forward, lowering their guard.

They all jumped back as the circle glowed brightly, radiating extreme heat. They looked at it, the lightning of the same color yellow swirling around it. Aang got up and looked closer.

"What th-" Aang started, but was cut off by something bursting out of the circle. Aang flew a few feet backward. It was all a blur. Everything happened at once. Aang feel to the ground, tackled by something blue and purple.

"Aang!" Katara yelled. She ran up to him, but was thrown to the side when she was tackled too. All she could see was purple and blue.

…

"Cornelia?" Hay Lin asked. She felt like she was floating, all around her was yellow. It was weird, she never felt like this in any other portal she went in.

"Hay Lin? Are you there?" Cornelia called out into the air. She couldn't see anything, it was all yellow and blurry. It was confusing. Going through a portal wasn't anything like this. It only took a second, and it was in and out. Cornelia just floated in the yellow-ness of the portal.

Finally, in the midst of the colors, she say Hay Lin, floating around. "Hey!" Cornelia shouted. They caught each other hand and got close.

"Cornelia, this is weird!" Hay Lin freaked out. Her eyes were wide in fear.

"I know, this shouldn't be happening. We need to figure out how to get out," She replied.

Hay Lin looked around. "All we need is to get out on the other side, then just jump back in and go back. No biggy."

"Yeah, but that is if we ever get out," Hay Lin reminded her. Cornelia nodded, then screamed as she was sucked out. Hay Lin screamed too.

Everything happened so fast, Cornelia couldn't even blink before the yellow disappeared and she fell into something. Or someone, because she heard a _ump_ that wasn't from her. Then she heard the unmistakable scream from Hay Lin.

…

Katara looked at whoever was on top of her and saw a girl, who look not much older than her. She didn't even get a good look at her, the only thing that was on Katara's mind was Aang. Katara pushed the girl off, making the girl scream. She looked at Aang, who was still on the ground, and looked unconscious. There was a girl near Aang too, with long blonde hair.

Katara whipped the cap off of her water canteen and bent the water inside, making it whip out and begun to attack the strange girls.

Toph, as soon as Katara began to attack, immediately joined Katara, same with Sokka and Suki. They were all in fighters stance, waiting for some movement.

…

Cornelia looked at who she landed on, some bald kid with an arrow tattooed on his forehead. Before she knew it, something stung her back. She immediately turned around to see a tanned skin girl, manipulating water above her hand. Same with a small girl, in a strange stance, and another couple, one with a sword and another with fans. Hay Lin was off, on the ground, and looked unconscious.

Her first thought was, how was the girl manipulating the water, she couldn't unless she was a guardian. Her second was, these people were a threat, she needed to help Hay Lin

"STEP AWAY FROM HIM!" The tan girl yelled at her. Cornelia was completely surrounded. She didn't like that, and she needed to find a way to help her friend.

Cornelia slammed her hands on the ground and shouted "Earth!" Instantly, with a flash of green around her hands, she moved the earth, making the others around her unsteady, then whipping up the loose dirt around her, making a cover of dust around them. Instantly, the girl began to whip the dirt around her with the water, making her vision clearer. Cornelia didn't have a lot of time.

She ran over to her fallen friend, shaking her shoulders, trying to make her wake up.

…

Toph felt the vibrations of the movement around her and she was astonished. "Wait?" She asked Sokka, who was next to her. "Is that girl an Earth Bender."

"Yeah, I think so." He responded.

"Why would an Earth bender try to attack Aang?" She asked herself. Just then Sokka shook at one of Toph's arms.

"Toph can you make this dust cloud go away?" He asked her. She nodded, and bent the dust around her making it fade.

Katara got a clear look at Aang's attacker, the blonde one, and stepped forward, "Why did you attack him? What are you after?" She demanded.

The blonde haired one, who was crouched next to her friend, stood up defiantly. "We aren't after anyone!"

"Liar!" Katara screamed and went to attack. Before her water could reach her, it flew away, and Katara was pushed several feet back, everyone was, and tremors moved through the earth.

The blonde haired girl was holding her hands up, palms facing them.

…

The only way to get them back, Cornelia thought, was to use a telekinetic pulse. So she did. She raised her hands and sent pulses as well as tremors through the ground making them all stumble.

"Hay Lin! Wake up," She hissed behind her. Hay Lin Began to stir, the her eyes opened widely, and she got to her feet. Cornelia was still doing pulses, but they began to get weaker. Hay Lin looked around and took in what was around her.

Suddenly, Cornelia was toss to the ground, and where she stood before was a lump in the ground.

"Let me take care of this," A smaller voice shouted. A small, black haired girl stepped up and moved swiftly, making the ground around her move in sync.

"Ah" Cornelia screamed as she was vaulted back again. Hay Lin stood up straight and flew into the hair, throwing her hands out straight and making a whirlwind around them. The other were swept in and blown around inside. Then Hay Lin stopped the wind, making them fall. She ran, while the other were distracted, to Cornelia, who was kneeling of the ground.

"Come on, we need to fly out of here!" She told her. Cornelia nodded, and got up, wobbling a little. Hay Lin, put her arms around Cornelia and helped her fly, not before she blasted another wave of air in the enemies direction.

…

Everything was blurry in Aang's vision, but he felt a cool breeze, until it picked up, and felt like a storm. He held up his head and blinked his eyes, making everything clearer. The last thing he remembered was being attacked by something, or someone.

He looked up, amazed at what he saw. A girl with long black pigtails. She was…air bending. He looked over at Katara, who was struggling to try and attack.

"No! Wait! Katara, stop." He shouted at her. He got up, but was blown away. Finally the winds died down and he settled on the ground. He watched in horror, then, as they flew away, both of them.

The winds completely decimated. She was gone.

He got up and walked over to Katara, seething. "Why did you attack her!?"

"Hey," Katara replied. "They attacked first! They attacked you! We tried to defend you."

Aang took a sharp breath. "She was an air bender! She was who I was looking for. Katara! You ruined everything!" He stopped short, the walked to the Bison. "Come on, we are going now.

The others walked to Appa, Katara was still of the ground, shaken by Aang's outburst. She got up solemnly, and all the ride back to their home in the Earth Kingdom, was silence.

**AN: Sorry that I was kind of mean to Katara, but I think that it was necessary. I had a hard time doing this chapter, I am not that good at writing action scenes, but I figured that now was a nice place to end the chapter, I have the next one already started, so it wont be long. **

**Thanks and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Taranee paced in the basement of the Silver Dragon. "We lost Cornelia and Hay Lin."

"Yeah, we know that, you have been saying that for hours," Irma added.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" Taranee asked. Caleb, who was leaning against the wall, was silent.

Will thought for a moment. "Well, we can wait until another pops up and go in."

"If that were to work," Caleb piped in. "You wouldn't know how to get out. And there is that fact that no more yellow portals have been seen either."

"Great, there goes that plan," Yan Lin said, coming down the stairs. "I was able to create Astral Drops of Cornelia and Hay Lin, but I don't think that they can hold up a good charade for long."

"So what do we do?" Caleb asked.

"Well," Will started. "We know they have to be somewhere in the universe. We know where they are not. If they were on Meridian or Zamballa or someplace like that, they would have found a way to contact us."

Irma rolled her eyes. "And how exactly does that help us?"

Taranee nodded. "We know a small bit of information, so we don't have to search those places. If we go to Candracar and talk to the Oracle…"

"Then we can get more answers." Will finished. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the Heart, and swiped it through the air. "Let's go."

...

Hay Lin flew through the air, close to the ground so they wouldn't be spotted. She held up Cornelia as best as she could, but she was tiring out fast.

Finally she let down, slowing down and landing softly on the ground, letting Cornelia down. Cornelia was still worn out, as well.

"Hay Lin, I don't like this place," Cornelia commented, sitting upright and rubbing her shoulder, which was aching from the fall she took earlier.

"Yeah, people here are not very nice," Hay Lin responded, out of breath. "But I think we are safe here. I have been flying for an hour straight."

Cornelia crawled over to her friend and helped her up. "Come on Hay Lin, we need to find a good place to create a shelter."

They walked for a bit before stumbling upon a small nook in a massive rock pile. It was large enough for Cornelia to cover the open space with a layer of plants and vines.

"Here, this can be our shelter," Cornelia started. She looked over at Hay Lin, who was sitting near the small creek that wasn't too far away. "Hay Lin… you okay?"

Hay Lin sat with her knees brought up to her chest. "Why did those people act that way when we came here? Why did they attack us?"

Cornelia sat down beside her friend and put her hand on her shoulder. "I don't know, but that guy I fell on must have been important."

"Speaking of him… he was looking at me funny, well not funny, but with awe! It was strange. Maybe we should go back?" Hay Lin continued.

"What?! Hay Lin that is crazy! They don't like us!" Cornelia immediately responded.

"But we can talk to them, find out why they did what they did, you know. And if we are going to be stuck in this place, we might as well make friends," Hay Lin reasoned.

"Uhh! Fine," she sighed. Then under her breath she muttered. "And I spent all that time making the shelter."

...

Katara's favorite room in the entire estate was the fountain room. It was basically a room or light colored walls and a white floor, it was simply decorated in light colors. But in the middle of the room was an immaculate fountain. It was a beautiful room, quiet and used for meditating, or in Katara's mind, a perfect place for water bending.

She stood, in deep meditation, making the water around her flow around the room, she usually found it soothing, but now...

"Katara?" A voice called out, making her fall out a trance, the water she was bending loosened and splashed to the floor. She turned around sharply, and found her brother in front of her, soaking wet.

"Sorry," She said in a manner that contradicted her words.

"Katara, I am worried about you," Sokka told her in a soft voice.

"Why are you worried about me?" Katara asked. She crossed her arms tightly.

"Well. since the trip to the mountains, you look a bit upset," He put his hand on her shoulder, but when he said the word upset, she twisted out of his grasp.

"Any why would I be upset!?!" She yelled. Her eyebrow was low on her eyes. "Is it because I can't protect Aang, or maybe it is because when I tried to protect him, he gets furious at me!"

Sokka stepped back in surprise of Katara's outburst. He looked at her and carefully chose his words.

"We know Aang is upset. And maybe you did drive away the only other Airbender he could find. But that was in the past, what are you going to do about it now?" He asked her. A calmed look came over her face, and a bright idea popped into her mind.

"Sokka, I think your right!" She smiled at him and ran out of the room.

Sokka smiled. "All in a days work."

...

Cornelia looked around at the plants around her, not recognizing a lot of them. She ruled out being someplace they had already been. No purple foliage, so, not Zamballa. Not a lot of rocks, so not Aridia. And if they were still on Meridian, they would have ran across a friend, or Elyon would have sensed them there.

She rubbed her hands together, something felt wrong.

"Hay Lin, do we even know where we are going?" Cornelia asked Hay Lin, who was leading them deeper into the forest.

"No, not really," Hay Lin explained simply. Cornelia still felt something, missing. She looked down at her hands. She gasped.

"What's wrong?" Hay Lin turned around sharply.

"My ring! The one that Caleb got me for out one year anniversary! It's gone," She worried. Cornelia twirled around, as if she would find it right at her feet.

"Cornelia, don't worry. When was the last time you saw it?" Hay Lin asked.

Cornelia thought for a moment, then said. "The last time I remember having it on my finger for sure was when we were looking at the yellow portal on Meridian."

"Okay, why don't we go to the mountain place where we fell out of the portal, maybe it fell off then, when you were making the pulses," Hay Lin suggested. Cornelia nodded, and they both lifted into the air, heading back to the mountains.

...

Katara sat outside, waiting for the red in the clouds to appear. Finally, she looked up in the sky, seeing a red balloon, with the black Fire Nation insignia. Finally, they were here. Slowly, the balloon touched the ground and two figures stepped out. Zuko and Mai. Zuko, instead of his regular royal robes and golden headpiece, wore simple red robe, ones similar to the ones he wore before he became Fire Lord. Mai, too, was in a simple, deep red robe. Her hair was completely down too.

"Hi guys! How are you?" Katara asked, embracing her friends.

"Fine, things around the palace have been really boring. It will be nice for a vacation," Mai explained. Zuko smiled and agreed, wrapping his arm around Mai. They started to walk inside, until Katara stopped Zuko.

"Zuko, can I talk to you?" She asked him.

He looked over at Mai and said, "I'll meet you inside." Mai nodded, and continued to go. Zuko looked at Katara and smiled. "What is it?"

"I need your help, I need to find somebody," Katara confessed. Zuko raised his brow.

"Is that about the air bender that you came across before at the Air Temple?" He asked her. Katara's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know about that?" She asked him.

"Sokka sent his messenger hawk. We know everything," Zuko smiled. Katara nodded. "I know where Jun is, do you have anything of the Air Bender?"

"No, but we can go look," Katara smiled.

...

It was difficult to get Nyla up to the temple, but Katara and Zuko managed to do it without accident.

"Can you see if Nyla can pick up an unfamiliar sent?" Katara asked Jun, who was sitting on her Shirshru. "Unfortunately we don't have a item for her to sniff."

Jun shrugged. "It'll take a bit more time, but I am sure we can do it," She said in her low voice. Katara leaned against a rock as she watched the animal sniff all around the area. Zuko was just looking around at all the cracks, looking for something/

"Hey!" Zuko piped up. "What about this?" He asked. Katara looked over to him, and saw him holding up a small gold object. It was a ring.

"This must belong to them," Katara said, looking at it. Both Zuko and Katara looked at the gleaming ring when Nyla's head stuck in between them. Katara backed off, watching the animal sniff, then twitch quickly. It turned around and pointed it's nose to the south.

"There are that way, and by the way that Nyla is twitching, they must be close," Jun smiled.

...

"Hay Lin, let me try something," Cornelia stopped her friend. Hay Lin nodded and stopped. Cornelia knelt to the ground and sat crossed legged, concentrating on the ground. Then, she began to Green-Speak.

_Who are you?_ The plants asked her.

_Only a lost friend. I need to ask you a question,_ She talked to them. Cornelia could feel their warmth as they accepted her.

_Yes, child, what do you need? _The plant's voices rang. Cornelia explained that they were lost and if there was a yellow portal nearby. _Sorry, child, there is nothing like that. They were appearing for a while, yellow disks of energy, but now they are gone. _

Cornelia frowned and sighed. _That is okay, Thank you very much. _Cornelia stood up and sighed. "Nothing Hay Lin."

"That's okay, because I found something," Hay Lin told her cheerily, pointing down the path at something. A strange looking animal, with three people on it's back.

"Hey! That is the girl that attacked us!" Cornelia gasped.

"Yeah, isn't that great!?" Hay Lin giggled. Cornelia watched as they grew nearer and they, grasped Hay Lin and dodged to the side, into the bushes. "Cornelia! What's up, we wanted to see them remember?" Hay Lin reminded her.

"Yeah, we wanted to see the other people who didn't attack us. From what I remember, she was the one to attack first," Cornelia explained in a hushed tone as the people came near. "Let's just wait and see where this take us."

One of the girls, the one with long brown-black hair and a tattoo smiled as her large, odd animal twitched quickly. "They are very, very close. In fact…" She smiled, looking right at Cornelia in the bushes. "They are right there."

With that, Cornelia burst out of the bushes, and slammed her hand of the ground, without warning, vines spread up from the ground, wrapping themselves around the three people, so fast that they barely had the time to comprehend what was going on. Cornelia stood up, her hand balled in a fist; ready to make the vines tighter.

"What do you want with us?" Cornelia demanded to know. Hay Lin ran up from behind her.

"Cornelia, stop. Remember, we wanted to talk to them, not hurt them," Hay Lin said nervously. Cornelia still held her fist, an angry expression on her face. "Okay, I'll do the talking."

Hay Lin walked up to the people, specifically the dark skinned female who attached them earlier. "Hi there! My name is Hay Lin, and that is Cornelia. Sorry for the vines, but she is a little precautious when it comes to talking to people who attacked us before."

Cornelia loosened up the vines around their heads, allowing them to talk. The dark skinned girl looked at her, and then spoke. "My name is Katara. That is Zuko," She motioned to the light skinned guy with a scar across his eye, "And that is Jun," she said, and the woman on the animal waved.

"Corny, let's let them go, okay," Hay Lin told her friend, who snarled a bit, then released her fist, making the vines go limp.

Katara adjusted her robes. "Listen, I apologize for attacking you earlier, but I though you attacked Aang first."

"What's an aang?" Cornelia asked. Katara lowered her brown.

"Aang is a person, he is the Avatar," she explained to them.

Hay Lin looked at Cornelia. "What's an Avatar?"

"The Avatar is the master of all four elements, a peacekeeper, a..." Katara started.

"Ooh! Is it like a Heart?" Hay Lin asked eagerly. Katara's look on her face answered her question.

"Maybe," Cornelia cut in. "it is better that we just go meet with him. We can ask questions later."

Jun entered into the scene. "Well, glad I could help, but I gotta run," She said, jumping back on Nyla. Katara waved goodbye and turned to the girls.

"Well, then we better start walking, it'll take us an hour or two t_- ah,"_ Katara gasped. Hay Lin jumped in the air, flying and had swooped down, grabbing Katara in her arms. Cornelia did the same thing with Zuko.

"We got a better way," Hay Lin giggled as she flew.

Zuko looked down at the ground amazed. "You can fly?" He asked in amazement, looking up at Cornelia.

"Oh, yeah," Cornelia giggled.

**AN: I don't know why, but I found this chapter incredibly hard to write. I didn't know what went where, and wasn't sure when to stop, but I am kind of happy with it. Sorry it took so long. The story should really start picking up soon, especially when everyone meet everyone. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"This is definitely a troubling matter," The Oracle's calm voice suddenly sounded worried. Will sat across from the Oracle while Irma and Taranee paced on the floor.

"What is the most strange, though, it the portals," Kadma interrupted. Will turned around to see Kadma and Cassidy come through a fold. Halinor stood next to them, Yan Lin too.

"Is this situation so dire you had to call in the retirees?" Irma slouched to the ground; she seemed to be in a bad mood, and growing worse.

"We through it would be wise to combine all of our powers to try and find the missing guardians," Halinor corrected her. Cassidy yawned and nodded.

"We need to hurry though, remember last time, when we lost Yan Lin and Hailnor on that one planet? We barely found them alive," Cassidy reminded them.

"Must we bring that up?" Yan Lin sighed. Halinor crossed her arms.

"Well we wouldn't have nearly died if someone hadn't cause that avalanche by knocking over that mountain," Halinor started, but Yan Lin stopped her.

"It was because we were trapped that they were able to find us in the first place, if we had continued to walk around-" Yan Lin snapped back.

"Hey, hey," Cassidy waved her hands in front of her. "Come on guys, we need harmony and stuff, don't fight." Halinor and Yan Lin looked at Cassidy, then at each other, and started to giggle over their memories.

"Now come on, everyone, sit together, and share your power with us," The Oracle said. Everyone sat down, hand and hand, and begun.

"Now," The Oracle started. "Explain to us what you saw before the other guardians were taken."

Will shuffled in her seat and begun. "Well, Elyon and Caleb requested our help. Something strange was going on in Meridian. Strange bears were appearing, causing damage. Then people started to report yellow portals."

Taranee spoke up. "There was the strange yellow residue where previous portals had shown. It seemed to be going in a certain path, but when we found another one, we could see faintly what had to be the other side of the portal."

"Then," Irma continued, "Huge yellow ribbons burst out of the portal and ate Corny and Hay Hay. Truly a sight to behold."

"Irma, enough with the sarcasm. This is really bad." Taranee yelled at Irma.

"Hey, yelling at me isn't your job, that is Corny's responsibility, and since she isn't here, I have the right to spew the sarcasm wherever I want!" Irma retaliated.

"Stop, you two, this isn't the time nor the place," The Oracle scolded them. He raised his hands, and two faint symbols grew in the air. They were the circle of earth and the spiral of air. They seemed small, and waning.

"This is something that cannot continue on. Each day, their connection to this world, Candracar, Earth, these familiar worlds, grows weaker until, they will not be able to return," The Oracle spoke sadly.

Will jumped up, breaking the circle. "What does that mean?"

The Oracle shook his head. "I am not sure, but where ever they are, the portal happened by chance, no outside force created them. And that world, wherever it is, has no magical connection to Candracar."

"And what about their aurameres, what is happening to them?" Taranee asked fearfully.

"The aurameres wish to be united with their masters, even just in the same realm as them. If the aurameres succeed in the transfer, it will be impossible to get Cornelia and Hay Lin back, and the guardians of earth and air, both now and in the future, will be lost forever."

…

"I don't trust them," was the first thing out of Sokka mouth. They all sat in the dining hall, Aang was at the head, with a smile on his face for the first time in a long while.

"I agree with Sokka," Toph backed him up. She rested her feet on the table and picked her nose, but her mouth was in a stern, hard line.

"Thank you Toph. At least there is one other sensible person here."

"Now wait Sokka," Katara stopped him. "What proof do you have that makes you not trust them?"

Sokka stood up. "They aren't natural. That one girl, with the yellow hair, and their clothes, and not even to mention the WINGS! And the fact that that they can both fly, AND-and there are just too many things to count. And the fact that the normal looking one is supposedly an Airbender-"

"Maybe they are from a different country?" Zuko shot in.

"You mean a different country where yellow haired people are normal? Highly doubt it!" Sokka responded in a harsh tone.

"Don't get mad at me Sokka! I am just trying to help!" Zuko snapped.

"Don't help, just get them out of here. We don't know anything about them, and we don't even know what they are doing here. I say, get rid of them before they start any trouble," Sokka pounded his hand on the table.

"Why don't we just ask them?" Suki managed to get in. Everyone stopped talking and put their eyes on her. She blushed. "If we don't know anything about them, why not just see if they answer questions?"

Sokka slumped in his chair. "Isn't my girlfriend supposed to be on my side?" He muttered.

"It is a great idea, Suki," Aang smiled again as he got up from his chair. "Where are they?"

Katara got up with him. "We asked them to stay in one of the guest rooms."

Aang made his way out of the dining hall. "Let's go."

...

Cornelia sat on the bed, one hand on her chin, and a sour expression on her face. Hay Lin walked around the room, excitedly admiring the room.

"This is so cool. This looks just like all of my grandma's stuff she brought from China! Do you think that is where we are?"

"No," Cornelia plainly stated.

"What is up with you Cornelia? Seriously, this is the chance we need to get home. I thought you would be more excited," Hay Lin sat down next to Cornelia.

"Something is up, Hay Lin, haven't you noticed?" Cornelia balled her hand into a fist.

"Notice what?" Hay Lin looked at her hand.

"I...feel more powerful," Cornelia said like a confession.

Hay Lin raised a brow. "Now that you mention it..."

She was cut off by the door opening. Cornelia stood up, her shoulders back and strong. Zuko came in, and she relaxed a bit. He held the door open.

"If you will, please come with me. The Avatar wishes to see you," He nodded as they walked out of the room.

"See, Corney, isn't this exciting. We get to see the heart of this world. I wonder if this 'Avatar' person is like your sister, but, you know, knows who he is," Hay Lin giggled as she danced down the hallway.

"Will you stop?" Cornelia snapped at Hay Lin, who just seemed to ignore her. They stopped at a large set of double doors. Two servants opened them up, revealing a large room, with a large table. Cornelia looked at all the people who sat at the table. They were the same people from the cliff, plus another woman, with dark hair, pulled back in two buns and some hair let down in the back. Zuko took his seat next to the woman, and the two servants pulled out two chairs for Cornelia and Hay Lin.

Katara stood up. "We would like to welcome you to the Earth Kingdom," She smiled. "This is Avatar Aang," She gestured to the man sitting at the head of the table. Cornelia studied him carefully. He wore a blue arrow tattoo on his bald head, and was dressed with importance. Katara continued. "He is the physical incarnation of the spirit of the world, and has the ability to control all four bending disciplines. He serves to keep the world in balance."

Cornelia put her hand up. "Please excuse us as this is hard to believe."

The boy, in blue clothing and dark skin and his hair pulled up, muttered something that Cornelia couldn't hear. Hay Lin did, though, and scrunched up her nose. Katara rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Please excuse my brother, Sokka, he is being incredibly rude," She apologized.

Cornelia watched as Aang stood up. "But I think that we should get straight to the point."

He looked at Hay Lin. "Do you have the power to control the element of Air?"

Hay Lin smiled. "Yup. My grandmother did too."

"Then how are you alive?" Aang asked in all sincerity.

Hay Lin looked surprised. Cornelia stood up. "I am not sure that I under stand you."

"Over one hundred years ago, the Airbenders were wiped out by the Fire Nation, and I was the only one that survived, how is it possible that you control that element?"

Hay Lin thought for a moment. "Because we are from a different world?"

Sokka stood up. "ALIENS!"

Hay Lin smiled. "I love aliens!"

"No, Hay Lin, they are accusing us of being aliens," Cornelia crossed her arms. "Real nice."

"Well, what else are we supposed to think? You say you are from another world!" Sokka exclaimed.

Cornelia stepped forward to say something, but Hay Lin caught her shoulder. "I totally got this," She winked. Hay Lin cracked her fingers and exhaled deeply. Then she pointed her finger and touched an invisible spot in the air.

The air visibly rippled, and a picture exploded in the air. The entire room darkened, and the large image of the universe, the worlds, the stars, danced around the room. Hay Lin started humming, making her melody echo in tune with the rhythm of the moving pictures. Cornelia gasped, along with everyone else in the room. Hay Lin giggled. "Just like grandma did when she told us everything, right Corney!"

_Impossible!_ Aang's eyes went wide. "How did you..."

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Hay Lin cleared her throat and motioned for everyone to sat down. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, all worlds were one, combined with the five natural elements, all stemming from the magical center of the universe, Candracar."

"Five? There are only four-" Katara started, but she was cut off by a sharp shush from Sokka, who was wide eyed at all the pictures

Hay Lin continued. "Aaanyway, this bad guy named Phobos wanted to take over the world, so the Oracle, an all wise being, created a wall, or a veil, to cut off the evil magic from Phobos, who lived on a world called Meridian, and protect the rest of the universe. Then, Oracle created five guardians of the veil, one to control each of the elements, to protect the veil, and defeat Phobos." Hay Lin waved her hand, making the images around them disappear. "Cornelia is the Guardian of Earth, and I am the Guardian of Air. Three more of us are back home, on…the other planet."

"That is so cool!" Sokka exclaimed. Cornelia looked around at the others. They were still sitting in amazement.

She crossed her arms. "Any other questions? No? Well, now that you know all about us, we have to go. Come on Hay Lin." Cornelia turned around, took Hay Lin by the shoulder and started to leave.

Zuko got up from his chair. "Wait!" He started to walk forward, but Aang already was up. He dashed across the table, knocking over a glass of water on Katara. He jumped in front of Cornelia and Hay Lin, holding on to both of their arms.

"You can't go!" He begged, his eyes large and sad.

Cornelia jerked her arm away. "And why not?"

Aang just looked Hay Lin in the eye. "Because…you are all I have left."

**AN: After losing my jump drive, and after SEVEN MONTHS! I finally get it updated. I am so sorry for the wait! I will never, ever leave you hanging for seven months ever ever again! Please forgive me! **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I have more action coming up soon, very soon. Thanks and please review. **


	6. Chapter 6

Hay Lin stepped back, her pale face blushed red.

"Listen, Mister Avatar, sir," She put her hands in between Aang and her. "This is really unnecessary. We would love to stay, really, but Cornelia and I have things to do, like, you know, find a way home before we get in some type of trouble."

Cornelia crossed her arms and stepped forward. "Unless you know how to create a portal to Candracar, we are finished."

Hay Lin spun on her heel and turned to her friend. "Will you stop being so rude?"

"I don't think you know how important it is that we need to get home! Something is wrong here!" Cornelia hissed. She looked at the others, who were just staring, except for the small, black haired girl, who was looking into the empty air.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but as the Avatar, Aang has connection to the Spirit World, maybe one of the spirits has the knowledge or ability to get you back to where you came from." Zuko interjected. Cornelia turned to him, a strange expression settled on her face. Hay Lin smiled brightly.

"Thank you so much, we appreciate your help in finding our way home." Hay Lin bowed.

...

Will buried her face in her knees. "What are we going to do?" She cried. The three girls sat on Will's bed as the moon shone brightly through the window.

"There is nothing left of any yellow portals, nothing to trace or follow, we are at a dead end," Taranee bit her lip, looking longingly out of the window.

As soon as the Oracle revealed the horrific news to the three remaining guardians, they were distraught. Kadma had recommend that it was in the universe's best interest that they immediately chose two new guardians so they wouldn't lose the earth and air elements wouldn't even hear it, and Will immediately decided to leave. The Oracle, while devastated, admitted that choosing replacement guardians for Cornelia and Hay Lin may be the only way to insure the safety of the universe. He estimated three days until the auramere's transfer was complete, and we would lose them forever. The girls made this night dedicated to brainstorming, although the only thing storming was their worry.

Will's phone buzzed and she jerked her head up in surprise. She picked it up, opening the text message that had arrived. "Um...guys? Why am I getting a text from Lillian?"

"Lillian? As in Cornelia's sister, Lillian?" Taranee asked.

"Yeah, she is wondering if we know where her sister is?" Will read the message partially out loud. "She said that for a minute, Cornelia was in her room, the next minute she was gone."

The room was engulfed in light, and Halinor stepped through. Her expression was terrifying. "Girls, we need to talk!"

Will's phone started buzzing again, and she answered it without looking at the caller ID. Yan Lin's voice carried out of the speaker full of worry."Hay Lin's Astral Drop is gone! What has happened?"

Not a second past before another fold appeared, all the girls shielded their eyes. Caleb came through, breathing heavy. Irma threw her hands in the air. "What now, did Elyon just disappear too?"

"Irma, that is nothing to joke about!" Taranee snapped at Irma.

"ENOUGH!" Caleb shouted. "No, she hasn't, but something worse has happened."

Will, Taranee, Irma and Halinor looked at Caleb. He wiped his forehead. "It's Phobos."

...

Katara was the last one to leave the conference room. Aang was taking the two visitors for a tour of the house and neighboring land around the estate. Zuko and Sokka had gone too, seemingly intrigued by the girls. Dispite the impressive display of floating pictures the dark haired one has put on, she was having a hard time believing anything that came out of their mouths.

She water-bended the water out of her skirt, the same water that Aang had knocked over onto her lap when he threw himself at that girl.

"You seem angry." Toph walked into the room.

"Why would I be angry?"

Toph snickered. "Because he is ignoring his girlfriend for another woman. I would be angry too if I was in your feet."

"Whatever. They will be long gone before we know it. She isnt a real Airbender, and Aang is just setting himself up for a heartbreak. And when she is gone, I will be here for him, just like I always have been!" Katara exclaimed.

"Could you say that with a bit more malice? I don't feel that you hate her enough." Toph's mouth broke into a smirk. "Will you relax, Katara? Seriously, you sound crazy."

"Crazy?" Katara faced Toph, who was just staring straight in front of her, as usual. "You would be crazy too if the girl was threatening your position. You are named 'The Greatest Earth-bender', right? Well that yellowed haired one, she can bend earth, and plants, AND she can fly. She could steal your title!"

Toph scoffed. "Yeah, right. She has nothing on me..."

Katara stood up. "I don't need your senses to see that you are lying. Now that I mentioned it, you're worried. That girl can knock you off your throne, and you know it." Katara left the table, leaving Toph behind.

Toph sat there, her brow low and confused. She huffed. "Stupid Katara..."

...

Sometime through the tour of the estate, Zuko and Cornelia lost Hay Lin and Aang. Zuko figured that he needed time to talk to the supposed Air-bender girl, considering everything that had been going on with him the past few weeks.

Zuko had brought the Cornelia through the whole house, and were now walking through the immaculate garden, with small rivers that wove themselves through the hillside. The girl had mostly remained silent, besides asking an occasional question about the animals that passed by.

"So... you're an Earth-bender," He attemped to start up the conversation. She twisted a strand of her gold hair around her finger.

"I guess you could call it that," She responded.

"But you can bend plants and air too, considering that you can fly, and the strange air blasts that you used to attack us on the mountains? I thought only the Avatar could master more than one element," He commented, remembering when they met.

Cornelia looked him in the eye for the first time, every so often, her gaze quickly drifted to his scarred eye, then back to the other one. "Our worlds are very different, I can't see one thing, magical or not, that is the same. It's a bit...overwhelming, I guess you can say."

"Tell me about your world," Zuko was completely marveled from what she had already said about where she came from. It seemed that the entire world was mechanical, even more advanced than the Fire Nation's war machines. Very few people had any special abilities, only Cornelia and her friends, they were called the Guardians, and a few select people had abilities like them. It boggled his mind to think about.

She then began to talk about her life. She talked about her mother and her father, and her little sister, who was a Heart of Earth, basically the earth's source of magic. Zuko didn't understand it all, but he wanted to learn more.

"Oh, that reminds me," he suddenly remembered. Zuko reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold ring. Cornelia's eyes lit up as he gave it to her.

"My ring, you found it! I was afraid I lost it..." She slipped it on her finger. "Thank you," Her blue eyes sparkled.

Zuko felt blood rush to his cheeks. "Yo-you're welcome."

...

The Meridian Castle Prison was calm as always, with the gray walls and the blue white energy bars cast an pale glow around the room. The Queen and the entire royal guard filled the prison. The three guardians ran into the room, all eyes were cast on them. Will slowed down, and crept up to the main cell. Irma peeked over her shoulder, Taranee was quivering behind Irma. Elyon stood in the cell opening.

There in the cell, Phobos' still body laid on the floor, no sign of life was evident in his body. Vathek rolled his body on his back. His silvery hair was spralled out on the floor, his eyes open and lifeless, his mouth slightly agape. A stringy yellow substance wrapped around his body like a cocoon.

...

Zuko sat on the bench, watching a demonstration by Cornelia as she played with the plants, the blossoms of the flowers danced around her hands.

"That's it, pretty girl!" A voice boomed through the garden. Cornelia stood up with Zuko right next to her. Toph came stomping through the garden, her hands balled in fists and her pale eyes squinted. She marched up to Cornelia and stood toe to toe with the Guardian. "I challenge you to duel!"

**AN: Pretty sucky ending, but its the only place that felt right. I have the next chapter half written. I hope this wasnt too boring for you. :P  
I hope it wasn't too boring for you, and thanks everyone for the reviews and the story alerts, it means so much to me. **


	7. Chapter 7

"Seriously, I dont know how many more things can go wrong..." Taranee muttered. She was sitting on the floor, a fear-stricken look glazed her face. The entire prison was silent.

Blunk shook behind Caleb, who in turn was getting hot in annoyance. Blunk tugged on Caleb's coat. "Is scary Phobos... dead?"

"No, his body is still functioning." Will responded. She knelt next to his body and touched his hair. Her fingers became coated with the yellow substance, which was sticky and stretched between her fingers. "It's almost like he is brain dead..."

Caleb's fist tightened as he spun on his heel and towards another cell. Inside had another prisoner.

Cedric.

Caleb stuck his arms through the bars and grabbed Cedric's robe. "Explain this! You had to of been planning something with Phobos! How is he like this?"

"You got me confused, boy. I had nothing to do with this." He playfully responded to Caleb's rashness.

"Don't lie! Phobos escaped, how?" Caleb screamed.

"I could hardly call this an escape, just because his spirit is gone, doesn't mean he escaped. Spirits cant go on in this world alone, they need help, as in a separate astral plane that can support them." Cedric sighed. "The least he could of done was tell me how to do it too. So what if I swallowed him, after all I had done, he is one unforgiving, ungrateful man." He muttered.

Taranee's face suddenly brightened up. _That's it! _She stood up and brought her hand up to her head anc concentrated on Phobos' body. There was nothing, except some static that tried to penetrate her thoughts... "Elyon? Can you read Phobos' mind?"

Elyon looked puzzled, but gave it a try. Her brow lowered in frustration. "No, there is nothing there, his mind is completely hollow."

"Is there anything that all the places that had those strange portals had in common, perhaps they had a strange presence, magical or whatever?" Taranee asked, stepping closer to Phobos.

"I guess, there was some concentrated energy in those areas, but I suppose that was a residue of sorts..." Elyon responded.

Will bit her lip. "What are you getting at Tara?"

"We all know that the bars that around here emit some type of quintessencial energy that is similar in structure to the energy from the portals," She started.

Will nodded and held up the heart. "Now that I mentioned it, the Heart was acting a bit funny around that place. And I could feel it too, a familiar energy. But this isn't nearly as strong as the stuff left at the portal sights. This energy isn't even enough to shock you, its barely kinetic at all."

"What if that the energy left at the sights wasn't left behind, but it was what drew the portals there in the first place?" Taranee offered.

Elyon crossed her arms. "That's a bit far fetched. I would have noticed an energy build up right away."

"Not if it was instantaneous," Taranee started. She wiggled her fingers. "Say this is the energy that is stretched all over Meridian. Now all the portals were the same distance from each other, right? So energy was suddenly balled up, by something or someone and _bam_! Portals are created by the instantaneous collection of energy. If it was enough to wake you up in the middle of the night, Phobos must have sensed it too. He had the idea to try and create that same reaction, but he only had so much energy to work with before you or someone else noticed. because of that, only his mind was able to pass through the portal and his body got stuck with the residue."

"Taranee, I think that you are a bit stressed." Irma told her friend.

"Irma's right, as scary as that is. This is coming out of nowhere. How do you even know this is what really created the portals?" Will asked Taranee. "I know that we are desperate to get them back, but..."

"But what, Will?" Taranee snapped. "This is something, we finally have _something _to get the girls back. We can draw in energy, a lot of energy, and create a portal."

"But we don't even know if that will work, we don't have time-"

"That's it! We are running out of time, Will. This is the only thing we have to go off of and if we don't even try something soon, we are going to lose." She shook in anger, flames reflected in her eyes. "I wouldn't forgive myself if we lost the girls and we didn't do anything about it..." She began go calm down.

Will touched Taranee's shoulder. "Okay, lets say that this is how it all works. I don't even know how to collect the quintessential energy. All i can do is shoot it out of my hands. Even after that, we need to be able to direct the portal to a safe place, we don't know what is on the other side."

"We could follow Phobos' mind..." Irma suggested.

...

They had been at the Prison for more that three hours, Elyon was fast asleep with exhaustion, with her mother stroking her hair. Taranee was still at it, concentrating, with her hands around Phobos' head, so hard sometimes her hair would burst into flames, and sweat dripped from her forehead.

On the middle platform Will was sitting with her legs crossed, her hands folded together and her head held low, a position she saw the Oracle in many time while he was concentrating. She didn't know if it was working, she couldn't feel anything. She didn't know what to do!

_This is stupid! _Will though,_ The only one who would know how to gather up this energy would be Nerissa. Stupid Nerissa, why couldn't she just be happy with what she had instead of going insane for power and leaving us with this crap!_ The thoughts caused her hands to squeeze together, her nails digging into her skin.

"WILL!" Irma's voice screamed at her. Will tried to turn, but her eyes didn't open and she was stuck. Irma and Caleb's voices spun around her, but she wasn't able to see a single thing. Eventually, even their voices were mute, and Will was alone.

She was finally able to get her eyes open, but all she saw around her was blackness, with opaque yellow smoke around her. A familiar feeling hummed in her hand and she saw the heart shaking gently. This was either a very good sign or a very bad sign. Good that she found this, something that was connected to the energy from the portals.

Will noticed that she wasn't breathing, or that she didn't need to breath. She tried to breath, but nothing happened, her body seemed completely unresponsive. Strangely, it was okay. Fine, great even. Will suddenly felt the best she has felt since becoming a guardian. There was no more strange, slight lingering pain in her back from her first battle with Phobos way back in the beginning.

But she needed to move, she guessed that this was the space in between the her world and wherever Cornelia and Hay Lin were, based on the feelings and the smoke. Will told herself mentally to move forward, and she seemed to float in that direction slowly. Mission accomplished, she could now move forward.

Something caught her eye, a flick of silvery blond hair. She told herself to turn, and she did, and looked right into the smiling face of Phobos. His grin grew as he dashed away.

_Phobos! Come back._ She screamed in her head as she tried to move at him. She started off slow at first, it felt like flying in jello, but she gained speed.

_You can't get me guardian!_ Phobos' voice rang in her head. He stopped and turned to her, a generous amount of space still separated the two. _I have been stuck here for days, I'm getting out of here for good, and you will be stuck in here forever! Have fun in Oblivion!_

With those words, his arms lifted over his head, bright yellow ribbons of energy sprouted from behind him and wrapped him into a cocoon, only his head was visible now. _I'll be back once I have taken that world, then I shall regain my place as ruler of the universes!_

Will watched as the bright figure seemed sucked into nothing, and he was gone.

With a sharp breath, air entered into her system with a shock, and her body convulsed, coughing in a fit. Will looked up and everyone was looking back at her. "Will?" Taranee asked her. Will smiled.

"I was there, with Phobos, an empty space, but he got to the other side."

Taranee smiled even more. "We did it! We can get your mind into there, and we can probably get to the other side too."

Will got up and winked. "Step one is complete, I know what to do, we just need a lot of power."

A now awake Elyon nodded. "I can help with that."

**AN: What is the worst thing I can do to you guys? Not get to the duel! Sorry about that, I just felt that it would take up to much of the chapter, that deserves an entire chapter by itself. I promise that the next chapter is the duel. And you guys are making this so hard! I don't know who is going to win! But I promise one thing, it'll be a good chapter.**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEW! I love all of you**

**please read and review  
**


	8. Chapter 8

When Cornelia stepped out into the open courtyard, the pretty flowers and statues were gone. The entire field was now an giant bowl, like an arena. She walked out slowly, hoping that maybe there was just a time limit for these things, but it wasn't likely.

"How exciting!" Hay Lin appeared next to her. "Can you even imagine? I mean, this girl is supposed to be the best 'earth-bender' on this world! How are you going to do it? I'm positive that you'll win Corney!"

"Will you stop, this isn't a good thing, we should be finding a way home, not... dueling, or whatever," Cornelia responded a bit harsh.

Hay Lin crossed her arms, "Not like it matters, we'll be fine, one day isn't going to matter and besides, you have an ego the size of the infinite dimension, even if you refuse this, well, i don't think you really want to refuse."

Cornelia know Hay Lin was right. She wanted to prove to that snot nose brat that she is the Guardian of Earth for a reason. The idea of losing to some girl was irritating to her, but Cornelia was doubting her choice, it still seemed like a bad idea.

"Anyway, all of us are going to be up there," Hay Lin pointed upwards. Set into the large wall of this 'arena' there was a small platform, and sure enough everyone was sitting up there. Hay Lin flew up and winked at Cornelia before making her way up there. With a sign, she walked to the middle of the ring where Toph stood, hands on hips, dirty feet implanted firmly on the ground.

Toph faced her and Cornelia looked right into the pale green eyes. "You ready for a beating, princess?"

"Not really," Cornelia said bluntly.

"Well, forget about running, it's time you take you down!" Toph slammed her foot on the ground, making Cornelia trip.

"No fair! I wasn't even ready!"

"To bad princess," Toph snorted as her whole body moved in motion, her arm shot out while her foot dug into the ground. Cornelia was thrown about, smashed into a pillar of rock and berated with thousand of rocks. Dust covered the entire arena, so much that the spectators above couldn't see a thing.

Hay Lin visible cringed at the fight. "Don't you think Toph is getting a little overzealous, I mean, Cornelia isn't even fighting back,"

Sokka leaned forward. "Toph has an ego the size of the Great Divide, there is no stopping her until she is convinced she's better than Corney."

"I get that, Cornelia is the same way, but..." Hay Lin started, her voice drifted off, as if her mind was somewhere else.

Down on the floor, the dust cleared away quickly. Toph walked forward to the light haired body. "GET UP PRINCESS!" She yelled in a laugh. "Come on, are all guardians that weak?" Toph stomped her foot, sending Cornelia flying in the air.

"Fine! I'm done, you are the greatest earth-bender!" Cornelia raised her dirty hands. "I give up."

"Oh no you don't, this wasn't even a real fight! I'm guessing all people from your place must be weak, I bet you didn't even defeat those guys you told us about."

Cornelia was dropped from her height, "Shut your mouth,"

"Huh? What was that, princess? You must have one crappy leader to be this weak," Toph snorted in laughter.

Hay Lin stopped for a moment, grasping on to Aang's arm. "This isn't good, Toph's gone too far this time."

"But Toph doesn't mean it," Aang replied. "She's just making fun."

"It doesn't matter, Cornelia hates when people talk bad about Will, not only that," Hay Lin began to explain, when she watched Toph be picked up swiftly and thrown across the arena. "She hates being called weak, it may be a joke... but Cornelia doesn't see it that way..."

As Toph continued laughing, suddenly a figure burst up out of the dusk and push Toph to the ground. Cornelia stood high above her, something hungry was in her eye. "You wanna see something little girl?" Cornelia flew high up into the air and held her arms up, closed her eyes and waited. Toph panicked, she didn't know where this girl went, except up. Furiously, Toph bended earth all around her, flinging up into several directions. Giant size boulders flew at incredible speeds, only to be stopped like dead weight in the air. The entire arena was shadowed under the masks of dozens of rocks. Toph didn't look up, but she could feel how cool it was under the shadows.

"What is she doing?" Sokka asked. If his eyes could get any wider, they would. Everyone was breathless as they weighted.

"Oh no, somethings wrong," the words escaped Hay Lin's mouth.

Cornelia opened her eyes, and her figure dived down like lightning onto the arena floor. The entire collection of earth that was hanging in the air fell with her, and everything beneath Toph's feel erupted. Everything but the walls crumbled echoing in the ears of everyone in a wide radius. The quake stopped, only to be replaced by a screeching sound. Thousands of vines shot up from below, thousands of them covered the arena, stretching and clawing their way though every possibly space, deadly thorns tore up everything around them. One thick vine spun it's way above all the others, with a vibrant red blossom on top, it bloomed and shadowed the entire arena.

Everyone in the stands had their eyes glued to the flower that acted as a giant cloud, when they finally looked down, Toph was seen struggling to tear herself out of the vines. Cornelia's slim figure laid on the only spot of open ground, motionless.

"What was that..." Sokka asked. Hay Lin just jumped right out of the stand area and flew to her friend while Aang and Suki made their way to Toph, Suki took out her fan and began to cut away at the vines. Zuko jumped too, sliding down the wall and running to where Cornelia was.

"Cornelia? Can you hear me?" Hay Lin asked her friend. Zuko knelt beside her and sat Cornelia upright in his arms. He pushed the yellow hair out of her eyes. Her form shuttered for a bit before her eyes opened. She bolted upright and took a look around her.

"What happened to this place?" She asked, looking at Hay Lin.

"Don't you remember anything?" A confused look crossed her face.

Zuko shifted on his knees. "You're duel with Toph..."

Cornelia stood up, a bit woozy and sighed. "I don't rember anything after Toph battered me with rocks." Her gaze drifted to Hay Lin. "I did this?"

Hay Lin nodded her head. "What is happening to us? Because, you know that feeling you had earlier, I have it too..."

"I demand a rematch!" A voice cried out. Toph came stomping though before Aang stopped her.

"No rematches. Toph, this girl isn't an earthbender, just leave it alone." Aang's voice seemed to understand. "Listen, something is wrong with this. We need to get you guys home."

_"Finally something I can agree with," _a familiar voice was heard. yellow smoke poured from the sky and molded itself into a faint figure. It was Will.

"Oh my god, Will!" Hay Lin gasped. Cornelia smiled too, hopeful for some answers. Everyone gathered around Will's figure.

"Is this a spirit?" Aang asked.

"No, this is our leader, she is back on our world," Cornelia explained. "Will, what's going on?"

_"Listen, i don't have much time, It took forever to get this form though,"_ She spoke, everyone could tell that her voice seemed distant. _"You guys need to come home. This world has no connection to Candracar and your Aurameres are transfering, soon you won't be able to come back. It's urgent you get back soon."_

"Yeah, easier said than done. How can we get back if we don't even know how we got there?" Cornelia asked the form.

_"It's all about energy buildup of a quintessential level. Build up enough and a portal will appear. We are working as fast as we can." _

"Great, the what?" Hay Lin began to think. "What's going to happen next?"

_"You guys just need to be careful. Using your powers attracts the Aurameres. I think you may have three days left if you keep power to a low." _Will's yellow hand tried to reach for her friends, just is dissipated before them. "_Crap, I'm losing you guys. I'll try and work hard, but be extremely careful. Everyone there is in danger... because of-" _

"Be careful for what?" Hay Lin tried to ask. A piercing scream from Will shattered her form and she was gone. No trace of her was left, even the yellow smoke was gone. There was no question about it. Everyone knew the same thing. They were in trouble, and they didn't even know why.

...

Katara sat on the fountain, listening to it gurgle in a peaceful fashion. She was stressed. Aang was paying more and more attention to this girl. She understood it when he said that he thought Hay Lin was an airbender. Now, he confessed that the Cornelia girl wasn't an earthbender, so that meant that Hay Lin wasn't an airbender. Katara calmed herself. Soon those girls would be gone, and she wouldn't have to worry.

Her ears perked at the sound of the door opening. She told Sokka she didn't want to be bothered. "Sokka, I said I didn't want to talk right now-" She opened her eyes to confront the boy, but she found the pale face of Mai infront of her instead. "Can I help you?"

Mai took her hands out of her sleeves. "I understand that you have been feeling stressed lately. Because of Aang and this Hay Lin girl."

"Your point?"

"The fact is," Mai started. "i've been feeling the same way, about the light haired girl and Zuko, and I have a plan..."

...

A lone solider walked the lines of the prison. The truth was, Kip hated this job. This empty wing held one prisoner, and one only. He was stationed here now, maybe if he kept quiet enough, the prisoner wouldn't hear him.

"Come here, guard, please?" A voice echoed. Kip swollowed and followed the voice. When he reached the bars, he couldn't help but look into the colest auburn eyes he had ever seen. The prisoner's lips formed into a frown. "Don't you want to keep me company? It get's awfully lonely over here, all alone."

"Yes, I suppose it does," Kip answered, gulping down a knot in his throat.

"Turn on the light, please?" the prisoner asked. Kip lit the lanterns around the bars of the cell. "You look so afraid, why?"

Kip stuttered. "I... just have never seen your face before..."

The prisoner chuckled. Kip got a good look at the figure of this prisoner. Long, unkept dark hair was laying on the ground, so long, the prisoner hadn't had a haircut in a few years. He noticed, though, pure white hairs streaked the lengths of the hair.

"Tell me, guard. What is my name? Who am I?"

Kip was confused, but answered the question. "You are our previous Fire Lord, Lady Azula."

"Azula..." a hand reached and picked up a lock of white hair. "interesting name for this body, I like it." Another laugh came out, darker this time.

"Excuse me?" Kip asked, before he finished, hands shot out and gripped his throat. Sharp nails dun into his bluing skin. Kip'slifeless body slumped on the floor and the lock on the cage snapped open by an unforseen force. Azula came out and looked around.

"This cell... this body, everything here is so much easier..." Azula walked forward to a mirror hanging on a wall and inspected the face. "This body, so powerful, but the mind was so weak... If all of them are like this... conquering this world will be a snap..." Azula's left iris faded to a black. "And the transformation is coming quiet nicely..." A small laugh escaped from Azula's lips. "If only Cedric were here too... he would have liked this world."

Azula's body broke a wall with a small touch, reavealing the sun of the afternoon, and desolate fields of an island. She lept out, and walked away from the prison.

**AN: Do you know how hard it was to write this chapter? UGH! I'm done with it though, didn't know where to end it, but i hope i didn't butcher the story for you today. Keep in touch, I'll be quick with the next one. REVIEW please, i wanna know what you think!**


End file.
